Residents of Boulevard Motel struggle to find housing

Wednesday

Most of the more than 30 rooms at the Boulevard Motel on Bragg Boulevard were empty Wednesday, one day after the city said it cut power to the property because of code violations.

Residents on Tuesday scrambled to find another place to live after the city of Fayetteville cut the power at 5 p.m.

One couple decided to live in a tent, said Sherry Tillman, manager of the motel at 4309 Bragg Blvd.

“They were staying out in the woods because they didn't have the money to go anywhere. They were walking up and down the street yesterday,” Tillman said Wednesday. “I said to them, 'Go back to your room.'”

She said they did return.

Several residents found rooms across the street in the Tropical Motel, which is now full, longtime motel owner Frank Edge said.

On Wednesday, two people remained at the motel.

George Atkins rode the bus to the Boulevard Motel on Wednesday to return his room key. He was staying at WoodSpring Suites, where he said they were charging him $279 a week.

“I can't afford it,” he said.

Tillman and her son Brandon manage the property. She said she's trying to get Atkins on a waiting list for a room at the Tropical.

Citing dangerous electrical wiring conditions, the city cut the power but did not send police to evict those who lived there.

It was a tight-knit community of people who looked out for each other, said Walter Whitehouse, a veteran who lived there for more than three years.

He said he was irked at the city, saying the manager had hired an electrical contractor who worked for several days to address the deficiencies in the wiring, but the city did not give him time to finish.

Jerry Newton, the head of the city's development services, said Tuesday that the city had no choice but to shut off the power because the electrical system posed an imminent threat to residents. Newton also said there was no permit issued to the electrical contractor to do the repairs.

Kathy Jensen, a councilwoman who used to own a motel, said she was confident the city would not have closed the Boulevard Motel if the residents were not in imminent danger from the electrical problems.

The city sent a letter to the property owners, Dorothy Fisher and James O. Smith, on Nov. 20 saying an inspection of the internal electrical distribution system and appliances showed “imminent hazards to life or property.” The violations included:

• A utility pole for incoming power was broken and lying against the mobile building behind one unit.

• A conduit had been pulled out of an electrical panel behind one unit.

• Numerous broken or missing light fixtures were located outside of doors on nearly every unit.

• The florescent light strip mounted on the right-side units is not rated for wet locations.

“Our goal is to obtain your voluntary compliance in abating these serious violations,” city electrical inspections supervisor James Honeycutt wrote in the Nov. 20 letter.

On Dec. 4, the property owners informed Tillman in a letter that their lease was being terminated at midnight on Dec. 11.

The Dec. 4 letter from the property owners states that it is their understanding that the Tillman family has rented the office building and surrounding motel property since the early 1960s for $2,000 a month.

“I further understand that your family has placed trailers it owns on the property and has leased the trailers to tenants,” the letter states. “As you are aware, the city of Fayetteville has notified us of numerous plumbing and electrical deficiencies with respect to the office building and trailers on the premises. Your family has not agreed to make these repairs or share in the costs of the repairs.”

But Sherry Tillman said they spent $4,000 as a down payment to the contractor to start the electrical work.

Residents were notified Dec. 7 by the city that it was disconnecting the power on Dec. 11 after the effective time for the lease termination had passed.

Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayoberver.com or 910-486-3596.

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